Genius or Perspective?

“Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.” – Jedi Master Yoda

I spend a LOT of time with my nieces, nephews, and younger cousins. They make me do all sorts of things. Dance like I’m silly. Laugh like it’s the only way to get oxygen in my lungs. Think really, really hard. And FAST. To explain things.

My little cousin Ashlee is 8 years old. She spends most of her time playing with her dolls (Barbies, Moxies, and Bratz), watching doll-type videos online, and watching movies/documentaries about the ocean. She is particularly interested in dolphins. I just learned this when I BBMed her mother about a birthday present last month.

Like a lot of children her age, Ashlee is very plain in her language. It makes us laugh quite a bit. She’s been very quotable over the years. She’s been known to say things like, “I’ll flip him like a hamburger!” (That one was in reference to her older brother and what she would do to him if he tattled on her.)

It’s interesting to see what children see when they look at things we see every day, and how different their perspective is. A lot of times, I think we would really do well to have the perspective of an 8 year old. This is a simple example, and I’m sure you can think of more complex/exciting ones, but this really made me laugh. We were at Sunday dinner, hanging around Ma’s (great-grandmother) house as we always do, when I heard Ashlee’s mom say, “Ashlee! Move your dolls from Ma’s crystal! Those are ashtrays, not couches!” Some of them were actually candy dishes, but anyway… This is what I walked over to see:

She's living a very posh life, relaxing in her very expensive chair, made of genuine Waterford crystal.

Aaaah! The sweet life. Maids in waiting, fruit punch on demand, chocolate chip cookies being cooled by the girls waving palms around... All as I relax in my crystal chair.

So, this is how perspective works right? We all look at one thing, and see different things. Or maybe it’s genius. We all look at one thing, and all but one of us sees the same thing. Only one person in a group of however many people is able to see something else. That one person is able to make “something else” out of “something.”

The majority sees this:

A candy dish. A fancy dish to put candy in.

Then, a child with a different perspective (or genius) sees this:

A fancy, pretty thing. Can be used as a chair for dolls. Like a roundabout chair.COOL!

Pretty cool, right?!

What do you think? GENIUS? Or PERSPECTIVE?

FYI (From dictionary.com):

GENIUS: an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc.

PERSPECTIVE: the proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see it; objectivity.